I learned analog synthesis in the late 1970s on the Electronic Music  Laboratories (EML) 101 & 200. This resulted in my piece "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" which was later sampled by Q Up Arts.

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After 1978 I no longer had access to the EML studio and couldn't afford a Moog or an ARP. Computer music was the province of large institutions and the personal computer barely existed. But somehow I became aware of the Texas Instruments SN76477 integrated circuit - it was sold in Radio Shack stores. I had some electronics background and thought I could make a synth out of it.

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There was one significant limitation: the 76477 was intended mainly for video game sound effects and was not well suited for oscillator voltage control at the precision of the musical scale. This problem was solved in 2006 but was beyond my capacity. I opted to use joysticks instead of keyboards for pitch control, forfeiting the ability to play 12-tone scales but retaining a physical interface for performance. Here is a brief demo, recorded directly (unprocessed) from the original prototype Box (unrestored).

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